The full Christmas event

The past four days have been full with the celebration of Christmas, and for us, it isn't over yet. We still will have our gift exchange with John and Cynthia later this week. The Friday Dummerston choir rehearsal for Christmas Eve was postponed because of wintry weather, so we had an 11a.m. rehearsal on Saturday. Seven people made it to that: Eliza, Andrea, Wendy, Ellen, Mary, David and me. That was good! We ironed out a lot! Jim and Mary arrived from Maine about 4pm. just after I finished vacuuming, mopping, and decorating the mantel. Five more came to choir rehearsal at 5:30pm: Jim, Rick, Parker, Sam and Calvin. We ended up with plenty of rehearsal time, and the choir sounded good! John and Cynthia came to the service, which was special for me.

The Dummerston service: Top to bottom: the women sections; John and Cynthia; Silent Night by candlelight. ***********r

After the 7pm Dummerston service we went to our place for a quick supper: smoked fish chowder. J&C joined us. Then we dashed to Guilford to rehearse for the 11pm service. For the first time ever, there were fewer people at Guilford than Dummerston. But Pastor Elisa put her special mark on it as usual. She asked me to read John 1:1-5 at the service, and Ellen was asked to read the story of the Shepherds from Luke, but she could not get out of her ear the memory of Tony Barrand reading that passage from the King James Version on Christmas Eve, and rather than read the NRSV which was handed to her, she recited the KJV from memory. Brave soul!

Ellen reciting from Luke 2.5ff.

Reading John 1:1-6*************************** We got home from the Midnight service after 1:00a.m., and didn't get to bed until after 2a.m. Christmas Day, we had to get ready for the gathering at Katie & Savanna's. Every family had to prepare a basket of goodies which would be traded as our gift exchange. But Ellen also contributes Stollen and Plum Pudding to the eats. Fortunstely, much of this work Ellen had done earlier. So we were able to pack off for Shutesbury in fairly good season.

Preparing to eat. The meal was delicious!********* In addition to eating, we played games and sang carols. One of the games was brought by Brendon. I think it was called Gist. It was a word game, similar to Apples to Apples You got five cards that were "of" cards. The "dealer" established the first part of an analogy: What is the Such and such of such and such. E.g., "What" (or "WhO") is the Mother Teresa of preparing meals for others." (Answer could be Ellen!). Here is a description from the website: "Gist" is a twist on Apples to Apples. Deal each player five cards from the OF deck to start the game. Each round, the Decider draws a card from the THE deck. Each other player then plays an OF card and replenishes his hand. Each combination of THE and OF creates a question in the form of, "What is the X of Y?" After everyone has a chance to explain their combination, players predict which combination of THE and OF the Decider will choose, and then the Decider makes his choice. Score for predicting correctly and for playing the chosen OF card. An example might be, "What is THE microwave OF friendship." It took a while to get the hang of it, but once we did, it was fun. Another game to add to Salad Bowl and Fictionary Dictionary! I had prepared a "MadLibs" game which we did. That's where you create a Narrative and then choose words from the Narrative for which you substitute words which you solicit from the group by asking, "Ellen, give me a number," or "Katie, give me a verb describing the movement of a human body," etc. Here's what I ended up with: WHAT WILL 2023 BRING? What will 2023 bring? It is bound to be full of surprises. Will __Mike Pence___ run for president? Will the Republicans destroy the __Security and Exchange commision__________? Will the Democrats choose __Elizabeth Warren________for Vice - President? Will China start a war with ____Uganda____? Will the war in Ukraine cause Putin to ___Vomit_____? So many questions! One big issue is Climate Change. Will the average temperature of earth exceed __643_____degrees? If so, immediate steps will need to be taken. We will immediately need to ___chop_________ our __brassiers__________. We will have to heat our homes with ___antiques______. ____Trollies______will be made illegal. Cars will run on _incense___. ____42_____ people will lose their jobs, but there will also be ___1,417_______ new jobs. Everyday life will change. We will stop wearing ____ski pants_________. We will eat only __cauliflower_____ for breakfast. Instead of driving to the store, we will have to _____kick______. Our cell phones will. have to be thrown in the __attic________. . The biggest sacrifice will be giving up ______ breathing_____. But there will be advantages too! We will have more time for reading _____Herman Melville____, ___Teen Magazine_____ and ______the Boston Herald____. Children will ____play_____ instead of going to school. Money will. no longer be needed - instead we will use _____mailboxes____. But what is going to happen to our planet? It is expected that __17____ square miles of forest will be cut down. WInd speeds in hurricanes will reach __3652______ mph. Fires will be more frequent: as many as ___16_____ every day. Coastal flooding will be huge: it is expected that at least ____33 1/3___. cities will be under water by _____Jan 1, 2027________. This will create many climate refugees. In 2023, at least _____4____ will try to move into Western Massachusetts and Vermont!********************* Pretty Silly!

The whole group gathered at Katie and Savanna's home: Sitting, l. to r.: Me, Julie, Savanna. Standing, l. to r.: Jim, Brendon, Mary, Tye, Jerry, Katie, Tamar, Ellen. B is taking the picture. The tissue-paper crowns on people's heads come from "crackers" we open at the dinner table.

Ellen and Tamar singing carols.

The tree with baskets under it - each basket had a number, and each family drew a number randomly out of a bowl. Then each family opened the items in their basket for all to see. We got Tye and "B's" basket.************** The climax of the day is the plum pudding - or "figgy" pudding, as the song says (We all want some figgy pudding..."). The lights are dimmed and it is brought in flaming.

Flaming plum pudding.

Getting ready

Today has been a day of getting ready: for company and Christmas. Jim and Mary will arrive from Maine momentarily. I vacuumed and mopped, put lights on the tree, creche figures on the mantel.

Looking like Christmas! Jim and Mary just arrived. We were going to have a Dummerston Church choir rehearsal this evening for Christmas Eve - but a "flash freeze" is forecast - after a day of rain, a sudden drop of temp to below 20 degrees, plus snow/freezing rain. So I cancelled it. We are meeting at 11 a.m. tomorrow and I'm also asking people to come at 5:30 for a 7pm service. Ellen ran some errands this afternoon, and Jim and Mary arrived while she was out. I was very pleased that I got all my vacuuming and mopping and decorating done before they arrived - the house looked really nice.

Jim and Mary talking with Ellen. Ellen is now making granola to put in a gift basket for Christmas Day.

Being flexible

I feel that I am rolling with the punches. Mary Westbrook was supposed to lead choir on Christmas Eve, but she just doesn't feel well enough to do that and also be the accompanist. So I offered to lead the choir, selected music and set a rehearsal for Friday evening. But now the weather forecast is for snow/freezing rain for Friday evening. So I've rescheduled the rehearsal for 11a.m. Saturday. But not all can come then. One of my anthem choices needs to be rehearsed. So I may have to make a last-minute change. We'll see how it plays out. Meanwhile, Ellen got a tree at Elysian Fields tree farm. It is bigger than our usual tree and very shapely. We got it up in a tree stand this evening. It will be beautiful! I wrote my annual Christmas letter, and will mail out 11 of them tomorrow. For most recipients, however, it will be a New Year's letter. I've ordered some things for gifts that will not arrive in time for Christmas. Promisory notes! Not the first time! It snowed earlier this evening and now it's raining. Tomorrow could be real mess! But Christmas Eve and Christmas Day look ok. I feel for the many, many people whose travel plans have been cancelled or disrupted. Have a Merry Christmas! (If you can!)

Our tree

First a Pageant and then Lessons and Carols

Yesterday, we experienced quite a contrast in Christmas events: first, the Christmas pageant at the Guilford Community Church, and then, at dusk, the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The pageant re-enacts the story of Christmas in Mattthew and Luke in a very joyous, almost flamboyant way. Here is one participant's Facdbook post afterward: “Such an astounding Guilford Community Church, United Church of Christ Christmas Pageant yesterday! Intergenerational, so many kinds of music, instrumentalists, costuming, dancing in the aisles, differently-abled people involved in the fleshing out of the Nativity Scene, paper mache animals, Scripture readers online reading from Kaiguchu, Kenya, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, and Three Wise People dancing with exuberance, and on and on!

I spoke briefly at the close about "What Christmas means to me and GCC." Here is what I said: "What Christmas means to me and the Guilford Church - Oh My Goodness! For me, it starts after Thanksgiving with cookies taking over the house - yes, Ellen bakes for the Christmas Bazaar that week and our dining table fills up with literally hundreds of cookies. And the Christmas Bazaar itself Oh, - I still see ghosts of Christmas Past: Peg Hunter presiding over the crafts table and Pat Houghton at the wreath table, the Junior Choir selling Christmas cards they made by hand with ink and roller and etchings they created by scoring with a pencil a foam meat pack that we would get at the supermarket, all with the help of Suzanne Woodcock, and Ed Curtiss at his own little booth piled high with nicely wrapped packages containing - a SURPRISE - that's right, for a dollar you could buy a surprise package, contents unknown. It was a very popular table. Advent brought the Advent wreath, Shirley's special Christmas stories like Millie the Mouse - and caroling. The Junior Choir went for pizza after church and then went out caroling all over Guilford. One year, Dale Parente wore high-heeled shoes to go caroling and I can still see her determination as she struggled through the snow up the hill to Bertha Thomas' farmhouse. And a special moment, way out in the boonies on a back road at dusk, we walked up onto the porch of a modest little cabin and looked in the window and there was an elderly woman stooped over her kitchen range warming her hands over the gas flame, and it struck me that that was probably the only heat she had in the entire house. She saw us standing at the door, and she came over, opened the door and said in the sweetest voice, "And what can I do for you?" And instantly, I felt I was in a sacred space, I had been transported back to the manger on that first Christmas night. And then there is Christmas Eve - Shirley started the midnight service and she always managed to end it right at the stroke of midnight. My favorite story comes out of that service - I have told it before but will tell it again. For many years I sang O Holy Night to begin that service. And one year a man named Gil Johnson came to me in early December and said, "Larry, this year I would like to sing "O Holy Night" at the Xmas Eve service. Would you help me prepare?" I gulped a little and said, "Of course, Gil, I would be glad to," So we got together and it almost immediately became clear that Gil was tone deaf, he could barely tell one note from another. But he was enthused and determined, and we met several times and he worked hard and Christmas Eve came and by golly, he sang O Holy Night, and it wasn't always in tune, but he sang it passionately and with deep fervor. And he came up to me after the service with tears in his eyes, and said, "Larry, that's the most wonderful thing I've ever done in my whole life." And I thought, "That's what this is all about!" God had reached down and touched Gil's life in an unforgettable way. ..........And that is what I wish for each of you this year - - that at some unexpected moment, something will transport you, God will touch you - a phrase from the Christmas story, a chord from the choir, a reading from Pastor Elisa, or perhaps just a hug, or a smile, or a child laughing - something will touch you and transform you with the light and the love of Christmas. I pray it will be so! Amen!"

Giving my talk.*************************************** The Lessons and Carols service was quite a contrast. Much more sedate, more carefully planned. Very lovly, but perhaps lacking in the spontaneous joy at Guilford. Also, there was a marked contrast in the social class of the congregation. Chestnut Hill is very toney, and it shows in the clothes of the people. We felt just a bit shabby - well, me anyway. Ellen wore her best coat. But we love this service, and of course it brings back a flood of memories of Betsey, Katie and Rob, who all sang in the choir, and also Betsey's memorial service was held here. A sacred place.

Before the service begins

With the choir - sorry it's so blurry! Our original plan, to spare Ellen a late-night drive home, had been to stay at a Four Points Sheraton in Newton, MA, about a ten-minute drive from the Church, and we had reservations. But when we drove there, we followed our iPhone GPS, and at the last second, it failed to warn us of a right turn, and we suddenly found ourselves inexorably on the on-ramp to the Mass Turnpike! No exits for quite a few miles, and then, what would happen when we tried to go back? Ellen made an on-the-spot judgement: "I can't do this. We should just take the Mass Pike and go home." No arguing with that, so I called the Sheraton to let them know we would not be using the reservation, and, amazingly, they cancelled without penalty. They did not need to do that - thank you Sheraton! I also called Expedia, which actually made the reservation online. They said that Sheraton would charge me the full cost of the room - which was the policy - but they didnt. The traffic was not bad, we took Interstate all the way to Brattleboro, and were home by 9:30 or so. So it all worked out!

Two Concerts

We have not done a winter River Singers concert for three years becsuse of Covid-19. But last Saturday, we did not just one but two - mainly because of COVID! We are performing in a smaller space than we were pre-COVID, and we wanted to limit the size of the audience for safety reasons. So we had a concert at 2:00p.m. and another at 4:30p.n. in the Westminster-West Congregational Church. Ellen brought a little snack that we ate between concerts. I brought a stool, so I did not have to stand for a long time. The concern was shorter than usual - less than an hour - but it was varied, and some felt it was just the right length. John, Cynthia and their friend, Angelina, came at 2p.m. I think everyone felt good about both concerts. Here is the program: 1. Sheffield (Familiar "Joy to the world" lyrics with musical setting by WIlliam Billings) 2. Halsway Carol (A lovely contemporary Solstice carol) 3. Shut de Door (A contemporary Caribbean Gospel song) 4. Belo Lice (A lively Bosnian song) 5. In This Heart (Lovely Irish ballad) 6. I Themba Lami (A South African church anthem) 7. Lashkrad Ts'asvia (Georgian "nonsense song") 8. Reunion (by John Harrison - a tribute to Larry Gordon) 9. Tvojte oci leno mori (Macdonian love song) 10. This is the Sound of Victory (John Harrison song based on Brooklyn "Sound of Victory Chorus) 11. Singing in the Land Our "encore" (Appalachian folk carol)

The audience gathering

Mark Grieco annnouncing a song

Word sheet for Belo Lice

Let it snow!

Ellen just measured the snow depth on the deck: 9 inches. It looks like more than that because it's sticking to everything. John says he has 13". It's supposed to keep snowing all night. We have two RS concerts tomorrow, at 2pm and 4:30pm. That's to keep the audience smaller for COVID reasons. Hopefully, driving will be ok. But parking on the side of the road could be a problem. The weather could cut down the audience. Today, we stayed home. i slept late, lounged in bed, played Wordle (score: 4), Quordle (7), and Spelling Bee (genius). Got up, had a late breakfast and looked at email. I read the recent New Yorker. Interesting article on Qatar and the World Cup. I wrote my Christmas letter to family and friends and went through my box of old Christmas cards and selected the ones I'll use to make new cards for this year. We just ate a yummy supper (as usual) and are watching the Friday news programs. A pretty nice day!

Taken this morning. Lots more now (but it's dark)

Slippers!

I have gotten some new slippers from Jerry Feinland that are fantastic. They have a battery pack which makes them warm and boy are they ever comfortable and they keep my feet warm. This has been a problem for me for a long time especially when I go to bed at night - my feet are always cold. But now I can wear these slippers in the evening and my feet will be warm when I go to bed. I may even try to wear them at night if my feet are really uncomfortable. i've been using a heating pad in bed, but now maybe I won't have to. this evening we had a really wonderful Hallowell rehearsal at the Westminster-West church. Peter Amidon spoke very openly about his cancer treatments. He was very open saying that he probably has only a few years of life ahead of him at best and that he is very much at peace with that - he feels he owes a lot of that to his years with Hallowell and how we deal so openly with death and dying. Very moving! A big snow storm is moving in tomorrow. Saturday we have two RS concerts! We'll see how that all plays out!

My new slippers. The battery packs are charging right now.

Good service

I led the choir in Dummerston this morning. We sang Star in the East, a wonderful shape-note hymn, and the choir sang it well! There were four basses, one tenor, two altos and one soprano. I was expecting three sopranos, but two didn't make it, So Mary Westbrook switched from alto to soprano. We made it a bit easier for the sopranos and sang one verse in unison on tenor melody line, one verse with sopranos an ovtave lower, and only the third and final verse in their normal range with some pretty high notes. They appreciated that. John and Cynthia were there, which was great. But the congregation was small - several regulars came down with COVID this week. The church may have been a spreader last week, because after the tree-lighting ceremony, people sort of packed into the downstairs for cocoa, and they were not wearing masks. A lot of the people there were the ones who got COVID during the week. John is feeling better, though he looked pale today. It takes a while to fully recover, Ellen helped me clean out the flue at the house after church - we had let the fire burn out in the stove and that is a perfect time to clean out the flue - and there were very few ashes and not much creosote at all - that is a good sign. We allow the fire burn very hot every day (what we call the "noon" burn, because the indicator on the thermometer on the flue gets to the "12-0-clock" position, which is about 450 degrees) and use creosote remover powder, and I think that is helping. Also, I think our wood is well-seasoned and clean this year, and that helps a lot too. I don't think we'll need to have the chimney cleaned this year. That will save almost $300! Ellen has now gone to Amherst to meet Julie and go to the movies to see She Said which is about the Harvey Weinstein affair. She was originally going to stay and take Brendon to the Nutcracker Ballet this evening, but it is going to snow this evening, and she feels she just can no longer drive at night under adverse conditions. Plus we don't have on our snow tires yet. It will be disappointing to him, but it can't be helped. Maybe Dusty snd Dorothy can be recruited to do it. Katie Tolles has COVID, or has had it, and feels she can't go to the ballet, or shouldn't. COVID is still having its impact on our lives! Yesterday we went to the Bergh's in the afternoon and watched the UNC/Georgia Tech basketball game. The Tarheels lost their last four games: after being #1 nationally in the pre-season rankings (because they were in last year's national Championship game and four of their five starters have returned this year), they lost four and dropped out of the top 25 altogether. But they beat Georgia Tech fairly handily. If they could play consistently well, they would have a shot at being in the Final 16 anyway this year. We had supper with the Bergh's - Ellen brought the meal - and we had a good time. Eliza's brother, Sam, was there too - he lives in Brooklyn - and I always enjoy seeing and talking with him. Now I'm going to work on my Bible Study session.

The "noon" burn

Grief!

We sang at a funeral today where the grief was raw. The service was at the Guilford church, and was for Mary Ellen Hall, the daughter of one of our older members, Joy Hayes. Mary Ellen was 61 years old. We didn't know her at all, but by all accounts, she was an amazing person. She was diagnosed with inoperable kidney cancer less than a year ago. Her daughter spoke at length but sobbed throughout. The added sad thing is that Joy Hayes, Mary's mother, fell and broke her hip last Tuesday in Albany, NY and was unable to attend her daughter's funeral. A video recording was made so she will at least have that. We sang three pieces: Blessed Quietness, Precious Lord Take My Hand, and We Are Marching In the Light of God (Siyahamba). The music really helped hold everyone together. Pastor Eliza also showed her mettle.

Mary Ellen's portrait on the program.

Mary Ellen in a portrait from a slide show - probably after her illness.

Doing unto others

Thursday, I took Jerome to the Guilford Food Pantry for several bags full of groceries. It's all free. We filled out a form beforehand on which you could request preferences in various categories: canned goods, frozen veggies, fresh produce, meat, cereals, dairy, desserts. etc. It's a great service! It is housed at the Guilford Fair grounds, in the First Aid cabin. You have to be there on Thursday between 3p.m. and 4p.m.

The Guilford Food Pantry

Nowell, Nowell

What a wonderful concert! Not what Nowell Sing We Clear would have been, but darn good. No one will ever replace Tony Barrand, but he was well-remembered Tuesday night and it was great seeing and hearing a new generation in his wake. Nowell Sing We Clear was Tony Barrand, John Roberts, Fred Breunig and Andy Davis. They had a 40-year + run - amazing in its own right. The program was always in two parts: Christian and Pagan. I.e., Christmas Carols from the British folk tradition, and secular carols of the season, also British. Both Tony and John were British in birth and upbringing. The program always included a Mummer's Play. Tuesday night was a much bigger group but with strong connections to the original NSWC. Andy Davis and Fred Breunig were there. John Roberts is still living, but did not feel well enough to come over from Albany, NY where he lives. Just as well! It was a lousy, wet, foggy night, and Searsburg Mountain, which lies between Albany and Brattleboro, could have been icy for sure. There were nine other musicians Tuesday night: the group Windborne, composed of Lauren Breunig (Fred Breunig's daughter), Jeremy Carter-Gordan, Lynn and Will Rowan; and also Keith Murphy (who lives across the street from Tony and has collaborated with him often in the past; Arthur Davis (Andy's son), Emma Schneider (Arthur's wife), Donal Sheets and Guillaume Sparrow-Pepin (whose mother, Lisa Sparrow, was pastor of the Guilford Community Church for 20 years - where Tony and Margaret Dale were pillars. Lynn Rowan also grew up in the GCC). Lots of connections! Windborne are very tight harmonically. They performed an Occitan Carol Medley that was breathtaking. I would say that 90% of the repertoire Tuesday was drawn from NSWC. There was a marvelous parody - also a NSWC tradition, this one a parody of the Cutty Wren Carol. Katie, Savanna and Brendon joined us, and we had seats in the front row on the left side. Great for taking pictures!

Windborne: Jeremy, Lynn, Lauren and Will

Andy, Arthur, Emma and Fred

Guillaume, Arthur, Emma, Donal

Finale - Keith Murphey is front and center. *************************** Yesterday I attended a Zoom session from Chicago Theological Seminary featuring feminist theologian Carter Heyward, who has just published The Seven Deadly Sins of Christian White Supremecy, and who was being interviewed by Susan Thistlethwaite, former CTS President, who was pres. back in 1999-2001 when I was at CTS as Pastor-in-Residence. That was a very timely and sobering interview. Then a couple of hours later I led a Zoom Bible Study on the topic of Modernism & Postmodernism which actually went very well, I think. The group has settled down to 12-14 regulars. A very nice group.

Carter Heyward

My Bible Study Group

Many things

We were at the Guilford Church Friday evening until after 10:30p.m., working on the cookie platters. But Saturday, we did not go to the Bazaar itself. Instead, we went to ELiza Bergh's house to watch the USA/Iran soccer game. It proved to be an exciting game, especially in the earlier first half, when the USA team looked aa though they could actually win! But it was not meant to be. When Iran scored goal #3, making it 3-1, that seemed to ice it for Iran. But the USA team is young, and maybe next time! Of course, a lot happens in four years. Eliza, Sarah and the girls were not there - they had gone up to Ryegate, VT to spend some time with relatives. But Cliff stayed home, so we saw him. The rest of the day is a blank - I think we were at home, and I was probably reading and working on my Bible Study course - this time on a more philosophical topic - Modernism and Post-Modernism and how they affect the interpretation of the Bible. I don't think we went anywhere else. Sunday, we went to church at Guilford and sang in the choir. It was another really lovely service, with a lot of music. In the afternoon, we had a rehearsal of River Singers - an unusual time, but Tuesday is cancelled because there is a special concert Tuesday in honor of Tony Barrand - in the tradition of the Nowell SIng We Clear concerts that would always be at this time. Everyone will be going to that. Eliza went with us and afterward we went to Allen Bros. and got pizza for supper and a bag of cider donuts. Monday morning I had an appointment with Dr. Soueid, cardiologist, about whether I should be taking an anti-coagulant to ward off a stroke because of my occasional Atrial Fibrilation. It is a complicated decision - a real balancing act of risks if you do and risks if you don't. We decided to do it, and he prescribed Eliquis. But when I picked it up (free 30-day trial) and read the information the pharmacist gives you, I saw a lot of red flags - things not really addressed in my conversation with Dr.Soueid. So I'm not opening the bottle until I talk with my PCP. I'm inclined to tilt toward not taking it. This morning I saw my opthamologist, Dr. Terrell. I mentioned the Eliquis, and his comment was, "Eliquis is not a benign drug." He has seen some patients. who have had some eye bleeding after starting Eliquis. Just the sort of thing I'm concerned about.

Sunday morning at the Guilford Church

More cookie time

Last evening we joined up with Robin Davis and Ken Kornfield at the Guilford Church and put the finishing touches on the cookie project. The cookies were all baked, and were in bags or on trays. What was left to be done was to arrange them on platters, seal up the platters with plastic wrap, and tie them with green or red ribbon. There were 20 medium platters and 20 large platters. The large platters held twice as many cookies as the mediums: two of each kind of cookie on the medium and four on the large. There were probably twelve kinds of cookies - all baked by Robin and Ellen! Here are the platters:

Medium platter.

Large platter.********************************** My job was to cut ribbons. Green for large and red for medium. Twenty of each. Ellen determined the proper length: enough to wrap around the platter twice and tie in a bow with two nice tails. The ribbon came on a spool, so I matched the end of the guide ribbon up with the end of the spool ribbon, stretched them out together until I got to the end of the guide ribbon, and cut! Here are the cut ribbons:

Ribbons draped over my jacket.******************************* Ken, Robin and Ellen arranged cookies on platters while I cut ribbons. Ken sealed with plastic wrap and Ellen tied all the bows. There was much discussion of pricing. Everything is so much more expensive this year, it was tempting to raise the prices. But we've always seen this bazaar as a service to low-income folks. So I think they went with $10 and $20. A great bargain!

Ellen and Ken arranging cookies

Finished platters.

Quite a sight! ************************************** The rest of the bazaar is quite colorful:

Purses

Robin makes these "Take Heart" refrigerator magnets. I wrote the description.

Knitted tree ornaments

The raffle table- American Girl doll, "Made in Vermont" basket, etc.

Cookie time!

Wow! We are already into the cookie season, which equals Christmas! The Guilford Church Christmas Bazaar is this coming Saturday, Dec. 3rd. So Ellen has started making cookies. Right now, I'm about to read Truman Capote's The Thanksgiving Visitor aloud. Robin Davis is here and Nancy Tierra is coming. This is different from A Christmas Memory on fruitcake-making day. That's coming nect week.

Those things above the cookies on the top left are Christmas "Crackers" - they make a "POP" when you pull them open and inside are little treats. They are a Christmas day tradition in the Tolles family.